Prevalence of dementia and regional brain syndromes in long-standing Parkinson's disease

Abstract The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dementia and regional brain syndromes in a community-based sample including 65 patients with long-standing Parkinson's disease (PD). A range of rating scales, among them a modification of the Stepwise Comparative Status Analysis, was used. Twenty-one patients (32%) met the DSM-III criteria for dementia. Thirty-one of the patients (48%) exhibited regional brain syndromes: nine had anterior; eight posterior; and three global regional brain syndromes; and one had another complex regional brain syndrome. The posterior brain syndrome was significantly more common in the group with dementia ( P